Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.
Why can’t Tesla‘s sales model catch a break? The automaker is paving the way for the future of electric vehicles, however states keep stepping in the way. This week, Michigan passed legislation that essentially bans Tesla from selling cars in the state due to a last-minute addition by a legislator who receives contributions from the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association. In other transportation news, Italy has long been the Mecca of souped-up sports cars, but surprisingly the country has never produced a fully electric supercar. That all could change soon, now that the Italian company Tecnicar has unveiled a new electric car with a 789-horsepower electric motor.
Read the Full Story 0 Comments Share
Well, that didn’t take long. Just a couple of days after Google stopped pre-orders of the Nexus Player while it waited for the FCC’s all-clear, its Android TV puck has received approval. There aren’t any surprises in the regulatory filing, but it should let you both pre-order the WiFi media hub soon and (hopefully) get it around that originally promised November 3rd release date. If you were worried that you’d have to make do with a Chromecast for a little while longer, you can relax.
Tired of hearing little more than soundbites from tech luminaries such as Apple’s Jony Ive and Tesla’s Elon Musk? Today’s your lucky day. Vanity Fair has posted its full video interviews with both Ive and Musk, giving you an insight into how the two executives work. Not surprisingly, Ive’s chat focuses on his design philosophies and processes, including what he thinks of Xiaomi’s eerily familiar-looking products (spoiler: he doesn’t see them as “flattery”). Musk, meanwhile, drops both hints about Tesla’s semi-automated Model S P85D and discusses the motivations behind the science fiction-inspired transport from SpaceX and Tesla, including why it’s important for humanity to go to Mars. The two discussions are lengthy at about half an hour each, but they’re definitely worthwhile if you want to see what makes key industry figures tick.
[Image credit: Kimberly White/Getty Images for Vanity Fair]
Read the Full Story 0 Comments Share
Outbreaks of lethal viruses like Ebola are bad enough by themselves, but they’re made worse by having to send in aid workers — these people can quickly become victims, no matter how careful they are. To eliminate that risk, both the White House and a trio of educational institutions are holding workshops on November 7th where scientists will discuss using robots to tackle the current Ebola crisis. The goal is to minimize physical contact whenever possible while keeping patients and families in touch. At a basic level, they’d like machines to disinfect areas and deliver supplies. Telepresence robots, meanwhile, could both let people visit patients without putting themselves in danger.
Read the Full Story 0 Comments Share
If you’re planning to snag the new Mac mini and load it up with aftermarket memory, you may want to reconsider your strategy. Macminicolo owner Brian Stucki (among others) has discovered that the RAM in Apple’s latest tiny desktop isn’t upgradable, much as you’d expect with the company’s laptops and the 21-inch iMac. The move isn’t completely surprising given that the Mac mini is basically a MacBook in different clothing, but it’s a step backward given how relatively easy it was to upgrade the previous generation. All that you can do now is replace the hard drive, provided you’re willing to void your warranty. You’ll have to consider buying either a higher-end model or a custom order to get more RAM, and both of those options are typically more expensive than adding RAM yourself. This limitation isn’t necessarily a deal breaker, but it’s unfortunate if you like the idea of upgrading a Mac on your own terms.
Read the Full Story 0 Comments Share
Following its longest-ever mission by far, the 11,000 pound X-37B unmanned spacecraft has returned to Earth bearing… well, we don’t actually know. You see, after NASA and Boeing developed the craft (about a fifth the size of the Space Shuttle), it bounced over to the Air Force, which is using it for top-secret missions. The X-37B’s longest previous flight lasted about 15 months, and this time, it stayed in orbit just shy of two years. As for what it was doing up there, exactly, cue the speculation. Some experts think it was launching spy gear from the pickup-bed-sized payload bay, while others believe it was designed to capture or impair enemy satellites. The Air Force denies all that, saying it was just testing space tech like advanced guidance, robotic systems and autonomous orbital flight. It certainly nailed the latter — with no human at the controls, the X-37B made a perfect touchdown following a 218 mile-high descent. To see it, check the all-too-brief video below.
[Image credit: Boeing]
Read the Full Story 0 Comments Share
Get ready, ya’ll. It’s been a doozie of a week. Not only did Apple unveil new iPads and a Retina iMac, Google took the wraps off the Nexus 6 and its own media streamer. That’s not all we have on deck, though — click on through for the rest of our news highlights from the last seven days. Oh, and be sure to subscribe to our Flipboard magazine!
Remember how the DEA got caught impersonating a woman on Facebook in an attempt to catch criminals who contacted her? Yeah, Facebook isn’t at all pleased. It just sent a letter asking the anti-drug agency to promise that it won’t create fake accounts or otherwise stomp all over the social network’s terms of service. As the site argues, the DEA’s moves “threaten the integrity” of its user base — the point of Facebook’s real identity policy is to foster trust, and sting operations violate that trust. Law enforcement isn’t above this rule, the company says. It’s not certain if the letter will have any effect; the Justice Department tells BuzzFeed News that it doesn’t believe this trickery happens frequently. Whether or not that’s true, it’s safe to say that Mark Zuckerberg and crew have set some firm boundaries for future cases.
[Image credit: Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images]
BRD Motorcycles originally opened pre-orders for the RedShift electric motorcycles back in 2011, and it’s almost time for them to hit the streets. A lot has changed since then, including the name of the company — now Alta Motors — and a recent $4.5 million investment round of investment. The company simply explains that it likes the new name better, but the changes we’re interested in have to do with those sweet plug-in bikes. We spoke to CEO / co-founder Marc Fenigstein as Alta showed off the 2015 production model RedShift MX and RedShift SM at the 2014 AIMExpo in Orlando, and he explained both bikes have undergone countless changes since they first debuted. The “race bike with lights” MX has a $14,995 price tag, while the road-going supermoto model is $15,495 and features a slightly higher 85mph top speed — check after the break for more details.
Read the Full Story 0 Comments Share
Disney’s upcoming animated film Big Hero 6, about a boy and his soft robot (and a gang of super-powered friends), is perhaps the largest big-budget mash-up you’ll ever see. Every aspect of the film’s production represents a virtual collision of worlds. The story, something co-director Don Hall calls “one of the more obscure titles in the Marvel universe,” has been completely re-imagined for parent company Disney. Then, there’s the city of San Fransokyo it’s set in — an obvious marriage of two of the most tech-centric cities in the world. And, of course, there’s the real-world technology that not only takes center stage as the basis for characters in the film, but also powered the onscreen visuals. It’s undoubtedly a herculean effort from Walt Disney Animation Studios, and one that’s likely to go unnoticed by audiences.
Read the Full Story 0 Comments Share
This article is automatically posted by WP-AutoPost : WordPress AutoBlog plugin
Documentation, WP-AutoPost
Engadget | Technology News, Advice and Features
No comments:
Post a Comment